30 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

Took a little junket down to the Edisto River drainage. The first several shots should be from McTier Creek (explanation to follow) and the last few are for sure.

Followed a packed sand road to a swampy little spot I had been told about.

Swampy pond and its outlet.


All kinds of native flora treats here, my favorite being an aquatic Utricularia that absolutely was thriving in the shallows. Notice the bladders, these are actually suction traps that capture tiny prey. These are carnivorous plants!

Don't recall a single skeeter bite from this locale. Hmmm...

Swinging the dipnet a few times turned up these Dollar Sunfish, what I am tentatively calling a juvie Lake Chubsucker and a Swamp Darter.

One of my least favorite parts of being in swampy areas is the spidies. This stop had its fair share. They turned up in collection buckets...


...and check out this wee beastie. I didn't notice it at the time, not until I'd gone through the pics a couple times did I notice it. Funny, seeing's how it's on my hand! Look closely, it's not outside on the glass!

[mattknepley]

A little further down the road the creek crossed the stream again. I probably should have noticed it was crossing the road from the same direction it was from the last stop. I didn't, but did notice this ticked off turtle.



About this time the owner of the property showed up and inquired as to my activities. Oooops. I had marveled at how truly clean and natural this area was. None of the trash along the road or dead dogs and televisions at water crossings. I figured it was on account of it was just so far away from anything. Nope, private land. The owner was polite enough, and permitted me to continue fish chasin'. He did however suggest that I "not make a habit of it". So maybe one of these stops was McTier Creek. DeLorme says so. I had verified the name of the road with the owner, but not the names of the waters. The only fish I managed here was what I am pretty sure is a juvie Chain Pickerel. The duck bill looks a little shorter in this angle than it was, and the gold line is thin and wavy, which is what has me thinking chain not redfin.

[mattknepley]

My next stop was definitively in McTier Creek!



As can be seen, It is a brown water stream with a decent current.



A pretty little spot, and home to some very large Yellowfin Shiners. I apologize for the pics, the coffee water was messing with the camera and it was a while before I figured out how to turn the tank to get the lighting best. If you've handled or kept Yellowfins you know that some individuals will "color up" for just about anything. Food, stress, water changes, et cetera will induce some to go into spawning colors. These guys were no different, they weren't in spawning colors when I caught them, but a couple began changing in the photo tank. You can't really tell cuz o' the water and lighting though.




The most exciting part of the stop for me was this next fish. I'm thinking it's an Ironcolored Shiner, Notropis chalybaeus. This would be a new lifer for me. Luckily I got the camera figured out. These are the same fish; is it what I think it is? What say ye who know better 'n me?

[littlen]

Nice array of fish, Matt.  I'm constantly surprised by the diversity in each of the areas you sample in.  Diggin' the shiners....and the Dollars, despite their attitude.

[MtFallsTodd]

Great pics Matt, thanks for sharing.

[Casper]

Put me in McTier.

[gerald]

Yup I think that IS an Ironcolor shiner!  Not sure i've ever caught one myself, but i've sure tried hard to squeeze some duskys into the ironcolor mold.

The mouth shape, sharp-edged lateral stripe, and less silvery-blue iridescence make me think NOT dusky on that one.

What's the grassy plant in the brown creek?  Sparganium?.

[mattknepley]

Thanks, guys. Casper, what you can see of the creek is all I saw, but I bet you'd have fun in it! Thanks for the id help, Gerald. I too have tried to make many, many a Dusky an Ironcolored. I agree, this fish is much less irredescent than all those other fish that turned out to be Duskies. It's a good observation I noticed at the time, but didn't realize the possible importance of. As for the grassy plant, I really don't know. I was thinking some kind of Val, maybe. I'm really nowhere near as good at plants as I'd like to think I am...

[Dustin]

Great trip Matt.  I assume you were able to avoid the rattlers and cottonmouths.  I noticed your yellowfins from McTier has yellow fins.  That's odd since every time I have ever been there, they had reddish fins.  I am not sure about the ironcolor.  Two things that I found help to distinguish ironcolors from duskies is that the lateral band extends through the eye on an ironcolor but does not extend into the caudal.  I can't be certain of either of these on you photo.  Here is a comparison I put together a long time ago.

 

[fritz]

I think it's a dusky.  based on pigment into the caudal fin and broad dark lateral band that extends below the lateral line anteriorly.  Plus ironcolors tend to be smaller and that fish looks large in your hand

[Dustin]

I didn't want to come right out and say it.  Matt is sensitive.  But I agree that I also think it is a dusky.  I thought it looked too large for an ironcolor too at first but it looks like the scale is distorted and that the fish is only as long as three fingers wide which would be about right for an adult ironcolor.  The pigment into the caudal is tough to get around though.

[Dustin]

Also, I am nearly certain that is a redfin pickerel.  Chains at that size would not have the continuous gold line on the side regardless of how wavy and a longer, thinner snout.  They are also greenish by that size rather than the brownish red of the redfins.

[Josh Blaylock]

I didn't want to come right out and say it.  Matt is sensitive.  But I agree that I also think it is a dusky.  I thought it looked too large for an ironcolor too at first but it looks like the scale is distorted and that the fish is only as long as three fingers wide which would be about right for an adult ironcolor.  The pigment into the caudal is tough to get around though.

 

[mattknepley]

That moment when I hear it's probably not an Ironcolored. Again.

[fritz]

Matt

i agree with Dustin on the redfin. Look at p. 241 in the "bible"

[Josh Blaylock]

Matt

i agree with Dustin on the redfin. Look at p. 241 in the "bible"

 

 

You must be talking about the Peterman's Field guide....not that crappy SC book. 

[Dustin]

 

 

You must be talking about the Peterman's Field guide....not that crappy SC book. 

Who's Peterman??

[fritz]

lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mattknepley]

I wondered about the fin colors, too, Dustin. I remember you saying how red they were. Just out of curiosity, which "dirt road to McTier Creek" did you mean? I was on Alberta Peach when I found out I was on private land. The stop where I took the road sign picture was at the USGS water gauging station on 209. Dairy Rd? Farm Rd? Something agricultural, but paved...

[mattknepley]

This is funny; I don't care who ya are!